The Cultural Environment - Essay Example

The Cultural Environment (Name) (Course) (Instructor’s Name) (Institutional Affiliation) (Date) The Cultural Environment 1.0 Introduction Unlike economic, legal and political systems, the concept of culture with regards to international business has proved difficult to identify and analyze due to its diverseness. Evidently, its impacts on the global business are broad and profound. Besides, culture influences a considerable range of interpersonal interactions and value-chains operations, which incorporates marketing, product and service design and sales. The culture environment is critical in the management of an organization’s daily operation and as such, managers must be trained in the specific cultural environment in which they are operating. Moreover, they must design the firm’s products and package them based on the cultural environment in place. Global managers must be conversant with the culture of the foreign country from all dimensions in order to succeed (Leung et al., 2005). For instance, whereas the red color may indicate a symbol of beauty to the Russians, it is regarded as a sense of mourning in South Africa. As such, this paper will discuss various issues related to the cultural environment concept in relation to managing across cultures. Moreover, the paper will delineate why the concept of cultural environment is significant to me as far as my career as a manager across cultures is concerned. Lastly, the paper will also highlight what I have learned about the concept of cultural environment and how I will use the knowledge gained in my future career. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 Defining Culture One of the earliest definitions of culture is associated with Edward Tylor’s view of culture (Thomas & Inkson, 2004). According to Edward Tylor (Thomas & Inkson, 2004) , culture is a multifaceted whole that incorporates the morals, customs, beliefs, knowledge and other habits, as well as capabilities acquired by the human being as a member of a certain society. More recently, culture has been defined as all the historically developed designs for living (1845, cited in Christiansen, 2015). Moreover, the created models act as a guide for the rational, explicit, irrational and implicit human behavior, which may exist at a given time. According to Keller, Robert (2001), culture entails objective as well as subjective aspects. The objective or tangible elements of culture include physical artifacts, roads and even architecture. On the other hand, the subjective or intangible elements include ideas, norms customs, culture, values and other significant symbols that have meaning. Geert Hofstede, a renowned organizational anthropologist from Netherlands, posits that culture is a collective mental programming (“software of the mind”) (Hofstede, 2013). He further adds that culture involves how human beings think and reason, and differentiates one group of individuals from the other. Further, Hofstede (2013) contends that all cultures are simultaneously entirely different and similar as it is an interplay of differences as well as sameness. Accordingly, whereas as human beings people share various universals and commonalities, as societies or groups, people exhibit a considerable amount of differences. For instance, some cultures are more collectivists than others while others are more individualistic than others; and others are extremely complex than others. 2.2 Layers of Culture As Hofstede (2013) asserts, culture often manifest in four broad ways: values, heroes, symbols and rituals. Regarding symbols, culture can be represented in peoples’ gestures, objects, words and picture as they often carry a certain meaning that is only recognized or understood by those who share these aspects. Moreover, the language, dressing and jargon also fall in this category. However, symbols are continuously created thus the old ones are displaced. Therefore as manager, one should understand the employee’s cultural dressing such as the Muslim women employees who must cover their heads. With respect to heroes, many cultures are often characterized by models of behavior. These heroes could be imaginary, once lived, or alive and they possess unique features that are highly valued as well as prized in that particular culture. Rituals on the other hand, are the collective activities that involve superfluous efforts used to achieve desired ends. Rituals are usually considered socially essential in some cultures. Examples include paying respects to those who have died as well as religious and ceremonies. Values are often regarded as the core of culture as they define the state of affairs of individuals belonging to a particular group. More often than not, values are associated with good versus evil, normal versus abnormal, dirty versus clean, rational versus irrational and paradoxical versus logical. Thus, an international manager should set the right precedence with regard to being a good role model. Keller and Robert (2001), note that values in any culture remain unconscious to those who believe in them as they often acquire them in their affirmative years. Values cannot be observed by others directly by outsiders as they can only be inferred based on how people behave during different circumstances. To further expound on the layers of culture, Hofstede (2013) assert that culture can also be approached from six basic dimensions: national, regional, gender, generation, social class, and organizational levels. To begin with, the national level is closely related to how people’s way of living is differentiated by the various country they come from. For instance, the Japanese usually bow as a sign of greeting while in the U.S people shake hands as a symbol of greeting. Thus, a manager from America, who has been posted in Japan, he or she must be familiar with such cultures to seal significant business deals with customers. The regional level defines culture along various ethnic, religious and linguistic affiliation levels. Here, culture is analyzed from a narrow dimension such as the ethnic background of a group of people from a particular country. From the regional scale approach, the culture is further categorized a smaller unit based on gender. According to Hofstede (2013), the gender level defines the beliefs, values, and practices adopted by individuals by the fact that they were both male and female. This level of analysis impacts the human being as they often belong to either the female or male gender. The other layer of culture is the generation level, which differentiates grandparents from parents and parents from children. For instance, a manager should be in a position to understand how to deal with aged customers as well as teenagers as their needs are often different. The social class level is also considered as a typical layer of culture as those who are educated often behave in similar manner. Equally, the people in the same profession or occupation often have the same characteristics and operate in a similar manner. Organizational or corporate level is also a layer of culture, as it defines a group of employees who are attached to a particular culture associated with the business. For example, employees working in the Toyota Company often have different working styles compared to Mercedes company employees. Thus, as a manager one must be conscious of these units of culture in order to interact objectively with all kinds of people from different cultural backgrounds. 2.2 Dimensions of National Culture For managers to understand how different groups of people behave, they need to have broad knowledge regarding the various scopes of national culture. The in-depth knowledge will help the managers to embrace all kinds of people in the foreign countries in which they have been posted. Accordingly, Hofstede (2013) affirms that there are six fundamental dimensions of national culture: individualism or collectivism, long-term orientation, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and power distance. Leung et al. (2005) notes that national culture has a significant impact on the international business from capital structure to group performance. Moreover, Leung et al. (2005) point out that culture awareness can give a firm a competitive advantage thus leading to success while lack of it can as well lead to a major failure. Dowling et al., (2008) further state that managers are the role models for the junior staff. As such, they should influence their employees into learning about the dimensions of national culture in order to avoid cultural conflict. Power distance as one of the dimensions of national culture relates to how the social inequality evidenced in different countries is perceived as well as accepted in various cultures. As Hofstede (2013) explicates, in many cultures high power of distance often dictates that children should be taught to respect the elders thus carrying the concept all through to adulthood. Accordingly, in such countries, organizations are aligned with an autocratic leadership style, whereby the subordinates expect their supervisors to direct them with regards to task and decision making. The subordinates are expected to follow what their seniors dictate, and they rarely question whenever they have contrary opinions. Therefore, a manager is supposed to understand such an environment to get things done thus avoiding loopholes. On the other hand, in low power distance cultures such as America, inequality is abhorred thus; workers would expect to be consulted whenever an organizational decision-making is taking place. Therefore, a manager is expected to be democratic and resourceful. Looking at individualism versus collectivism, Hofstede (2013) contends that in an individualism-oriented culture, people are more aligned with a loosely knitted society whereby the self and autonomy are given preference. Conversely, a collectivism-oriented culture gives preference to interdependent social units as opposed to self. For example in Japan, the family unit is often given much attention in every aspect of life and individuals strive to give the family name a good reputation. In an individualist society, workers are given the freedom to work towards their self-actualization independently. The employees regard independence and the desire to challenge work more significant. On the other hand, the collectivist cultures encourage cohesion through teamwork in the organization, success is shared collectively. Hofstede (2013) refers masculinity as those cultures that focus much on distinct gender roles, where male are given an upper hand or attached to success, rewards and competition. On the contrary, women in such cultures are made to focus on tender values since their formative years thus embracing modesty and quality life. In the opposition, femininity cultures advocate for overlapped gender roles: there is no particular role attached to a specific gender. For example, a man can cook as well look after the children and on the other hand, a woman can assume leadership positions. Similarly, masculine cultures view managers as more decisive and assertive, while in feminine cultures advocate for intuitive managers who embrace participation during the decision-making process and negotiate disputes whenever they arise. Another important dimension of national culture is uncertainty avoidance, which refers to the degree to which the societal members or members of a group feel uncertain in unfamiliar situations. Therefore, in cultures where there is high uncertainty avoidance, societal members prefer to be live in a structured environment, where policies and rules take precedence. On the contrary, in a culture where there is a low or weak uncertainty avoidance rate, the rules and policies often exist where they are needed as they create discomfort and fear. As such, as a manager one should understand the degree of uncertainty avoidance in the country in which he is working to know the kind of policies and rules to impose in the organization. The other significant explicate by Hofstede (2013) is known as long-term orientation. This dimension is related to the extent to which individuals focus on a dynamic future-oriented perception as opposed to focusing on the present and the past. This aspect can help managers to develop achievable or realizable objectives as they understand their subordinate’s cultural background with respect to long-term or short-term orientation. From the above-mentioned national dimensions, I have gathered that culture has various learned norms and values that could determine as well as play crucial role in influencing the business outcomes of an international venture. 3.0 Reflection The cultural environment concept is a significant topic to me as I in my career as a manager across cultures as it because of various reasons. To begin with, I have learned that for one to be an effective manager across cultures, one need to look at culture from a broader viewpoint. Unlike the local manager whose interaction with the people is domestic-oriented, an international manager must develop the widest possible perspective. He or she must think beyond many borders and see business from a bigger picture and learn how various cultures differ as well as the interrelations among cultures. I am now certain that any culture comprises of many parts that are interconnected to for a well-integrated systemic whole. As a manager across cultures, I now understand why I should acquire in-depth knowledge of the reason a particular exist. From this aspect, I will be able to come up with policies that are well filtered having looked at a myriad of options and aspects. Second, the topic was important since a manager across cultures must appreciate other perspectives as well. From the concept learned in the topic, it is evident that a global manager must be able to balance between his or her point of view and different points of view. For instance, the best way for a manager to understand divergent opinions is by learning the host’s languages and crucial cross-cultural training. It is important to note that languages are more than a mechanism for sending and receiving messages. Languages in a larger extent establish categories onto which people can distinguish between what they consider similar from that are regarded dissimilar. In effect, in my career as an international manager I will not underrate or brush away other people’s opinion just because they do not subscribe to my school of thinking. That way, I would be accepted by other employees and regarded as one of their own thus easing the working relationship. The other importance of the topic relates to cognitive flexibility. From the concept of cultural environment, I now believe that a manager across cultures must be curious, always able to explain phenomena, nonjudgmental and often open to new ways of thinking. In other words, as an international manager I must be able to postpone making quick evaluations until I have gathered enough facts and willing learn. As a manager across cultures, I must be able to suppress my ego as well as disassociate myself with old paradigms as they often lead to stereotyping. This indicates that in my future career I will often have to be authentic and tactical when coming up with a conclusion on various issues. Besides, I will observe and engage other organizational members in preparing an evaluation about an issue. Emotional resilience is a fundamental concept that a manager must practice with regard to the concept of cultural environment. From the numerous case studies highlighted in this topic, it is evident that a manager needs to have emotional resilience as things often go as planned while working and living in a different cultural environment. As a manager across cultures, one can go through frequent frustrations due to the unexpected culture conflict and as such, a manager must learn how to bounce back to his or her normal senses rapidly after frustrations. Thus, in future I will always take issues with an open mind expecting for anything. Further, frustrations brought about by culture should not control my emotions as it might affect my morale and ultimately my performance. 4.0 Conclusion In summation, this paper has discussed significant issues that revolve around the concept of cultural environment. Thus, the paper successfully defined culture, the layers of culture with regard to international business. The paper also discussed the various dimensions associated with national culture as a managing across cultures incorporates various aspects attached to the national culture. Moreover, it highlighted the reason the concept of cultural environment is significant to me as far as my career as a manager across culture is concerned. Lastly, the papers also highlighted what I have learned about cultural environment and how I will use the knowledge gained in my future career. References Christiansen, B. (2015). Cultural Indoctrination: A Theoretical Framework. Nationalism, Cultural Indoctrination, and Economic Prosperity in the Digital Age, 279. Dowling, P. J., Festing, M. and Engle, A. D. (2008) International Human Resource Management, 5ed, London: Thomson Learning. Hofstede, G. (2013). Dimensions of national cultures. Keller, Robert. (2001). “Cross- Functional Project Groups in Research and New Product Development.” Academy of Management Journal 44(3): 547–55; Leung, K., Bhagat, R. S., Buchan, N. R., Erez, M. and Gibson, C. B. (2005) ‘Culture and International Business: Recent Advances and their Implications for Future Research’, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 36, pp. 357-378. Senn, Christoph, and Axel Thoma. (2007). “Worldly Wise: Attracting and Managing Customers Isn’t the Same When Business Goes Global.” Wall Street Journal March 3, 2007, p. R5 Thomas, D. C., & Inkson, K. (2004). Cultural intelligence: People skills for global business. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. Read More